


The Masks We Wear

by Linorien



Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond - All Media Types, London Spy
Genre: 00QAD if you squint, Costume Parties & Masquerades, M/M, Victorian Era AU, it happened by accident, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-07-16
Packaged: 2018-10-17 21:39:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10602792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linorien/pseuds/Linorien
Summary: Prompt: Characters meet at a costume ball and don't recognize each other





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> For Forger who wanted this to be 00QAD. It is not as fluffy as you may like it, but enjoy.

 

 

The ball was to be the event of the century. No one knew who organised it, but everything was was planned to the most minute detail. It was a select, but diverse, group of people who had demonstrated great loyalty to Queen and Country. Everyone had been staying in rooms in the palace for a week now in order to eliminate travel time to the festivities.

Finally the night of the ball had arrived. Everyone changed in their own room, even partners did not know what the other was wearing, and then the palace staff would escort them to the ballroom. Everyone would arrive at different times, no one knew the details. No one except the engineer.

While the others were excited, Q was nearly overcome with nerves. Logically, he knew everything would run smoothly. The palace staff was competent, the musicians sounded great, and all costumes were complete. The rules of the masquerade dictated that no one spoke for the first two hours so he didn’t have to worry about being immediately recognised either. He hadn’t wanted to attend at all, preferring to just design the spectacle, but the Queen insisted. But he figured out a surefire way not to be recognised.

 [ ](http://imgur.com/uUb1RZk)

Alex looked at himself in the reflection in his window, idly fixing his hair, knowing full well he wouldn’t be satisfied. He didn’t really belong here. The plain black and white suit he owned had been slightly dressed up with tassles left over from graduation, but it was not nearly as fancy as he knew many of the other outfits would be. He was only here because Danny was here.

They were an odd match, a professor of maths and a royal fortune teller, but they loved each other and that was all that mattered. He turned from the window and picked up his mask from the side table. It was the one part of his outfit that was elegant. Danny had given him an envelope of money as a gift and told him where to find someone in the palace who had made extra masks for the evening. It was black to match his suit, sharp diamond motifs covered the area around his eyes, softening to circles over his cheeks and up to his forehead. Small feathers lined the edges in a fluffy white.

He didn’t know if Danny would recognise him, the point of the evening was to be anonymous after all, yet he hoped his partner would find him. Alex did not want to be stuck dancing with the women all night and he was not sure how to refuse without appearing rude. A knock on the door interrupted his musings. He straightened his shoulders and went out to meet his escort. Surely it could not be worse than teaching Geometry to disinterested first-years.

 [ ](http://imgur.com/qa9KTQf)

Commander Bond entered the room and eyes immediately turned to watch his progression through the room. Without hesitation, he strode to a woman in greens and blues matching his own and bowed, silently asking for this dance.

She hid a smile and extended a hand. With the patterned waves on his jacket, and the sailboat that was his mask, it wasn’t hard to figure out who he was. Only one of her Naval officers would flaunt themselves like this. And from the smug grin on his face, it seemed he had immediately identified her as the Queen.

As they twirled around the room, she tapped out a question on his shoulder. _Was I easy to spot?_

He shook his head. _I don’t think anyone else would know._

She relaxed. Part of the reason she had requested this costume ball was to give her the chance to celebrate without the restrictions of being monarch. No one trying to proposition her while they danced, no one trying to earn a few gold pieces for information her spymasters had already told her about, and no crowds clamouring just to be near her. Q’s idea of enforced silence only made it easier. They couldn’t even talk to her if they found her.

_Are you enjoying yourself?_

Unless they were the sneaky sort like Commander Bond who knew Morse. Although she did start it. _Yes._

 [ ](http://imgur.com/f8X3iba)

Danny was one of the last people to enter the ballroom. He hadn’t seen it this full in ages. Everywhere, dresses and jacket tails swirled in brightly colours flashes, their owner’s quick feet gliding around the room in time to the music. The gentle notes of the harpsichord and flute flew high above the sweet crooning of the cello that seemed to vibrate his heartstrings.

He roamed the edges of the hall, but could not spot Alex anywhere. He had thought for sure he would know him at first sight. Was that, no, the shape of the ear was wrong. Hopefully Alex was looking for him as well. He tried to make it easy.

His costume was covered mostly in red hearts, with black spades, diamonds, and clubs sprinkled throughout. His mask was one large heart, three small rubies at the corner of each eye and three long red feathers erupting from the top.

He danced with many people, searching their eyes to find the ones he knew. But women kept asking for a dance, and the men he danced with all had curlier hair than the short cut of Alex’s. After an hour of searching and having no luck, he moved toward the desserts table. Sugar always cheered him up.

As he stood in front of the buffet, trying to decide which to choose, a plate was gently pushed into his hands. He looked up to see a young woman in a deep purple mask smiling gently at him. The chocolate on her lips made him instantly trust her choice and he thanked her with a smile.

With deft fingers, she selected more for herself and led him to a window seat. Looking out the window, Danny could see why she had chosen this seat. It looked out over the large pool in the gardens and the torches lining the walkways shone bright in the night. He opened his mouth to compliment her choice, but a coy eyebrow raise reminded him the two hours of silence had not yet elapsed.

As the deadline drew near, however, the woman tried to sign to him that she needed to leave. He didn’t fully understand, but nodded back to whatever she was trying to say and returned to watching the dancers. At least when the time was up he could finally use his voice to flirt with the guests.

 [ ](http://imgur.com/tpn1pKE)

A hand tapped him on the shoulder. Alex turned to force himself to dance with another woman. He still had not found Danny yet. But when he spun, his fake smile turned more genuine to see another man standing in front of him, hand extended in an offer he could not turn down. He knew he looked plain next to the vibrant colours of this man, yet he found himself leading them both around the dance floor. It wasn’t the same as dancing with Danny, but it was the best dance of the night so far.

He soon found dancing with another man of a similar height was enjoyable. His partner was both content to let him lead and the smile on his face proved that he liked being lifted as much as Danny did. Together they glided around the ballroom, gracefully stepping to the music in perfect time.

A glance at the clock as they spun showed Alex that it was nearly time for the silence rule to be lifted. He found himself mentally counting down the minutes until he would be able to ask the name of his dancing partner. But the steps of the dance led them away from each other and when he was supposed to come back to his original partner, he was face to face with a young redhaired woman and a bright grin. The man was nowhere to be seen.

 [ ](http://imgur.com/QyCIyBd)

The clock struck twelve and signalled the end of the silence. “May I have the next dance, Lord Solitaire.” Danny looked up to see a woman standing in front of him with her hand outstretched. Her brown skin was complimented perfectly the soft blues and whites of her large hoop skirt and the soft purple gradient of the bodice.

Danny let himself be pulled to his feet, leaving his empty plate on the vacant seat. “You may, my Lady Sky.”

Although many other couples spoke now, they were content to dance in silence. They twirled to their own dance, trading off leading on every circuit of the room, always weaving in and out of the others. Her curls bounced at every little hop and fought to be free of the ribbon of her mask.

It wasn't at all like dancing with Alex. Sure his normal dancing partner could perform lifts like no other, but he never let Danny take them off the precise beat of the music. This woman, however, she knew how to have fun.

 [ ](http://imgur.com/4L90wbO)

Q opened the door to his chambers to find his assistant waiting for him in front of the fire, curled up with a book. He let the door close and untied his mask.

“I don't think the town criers have finished calling out the hour and already you have returned,” she said, placing a marker in the book and shutting the page. “Well you can't have had too awful a time. You have chocolate at the corner of your smile.”

“Yes, you were right, it wasn't awful.” He sat on the bench in front of his mirror and began pulling out pins. “Would you mind unlacing me while I take this wig off?”

“But you looked so good as a brunette,” she laughed. “Although I'll admit the neatness of the straight hair seemed very unlike you.”

“That was rather the point, Rose.”

“But if no one knew who you were, how will the Queen know you did attend?” she asked as she placed the wig on the stand.

“Because,” Q said with a smile as he walked into his bedchambers, leaving the door open behind him. “I can tell her she spent most of the night dancing with a man dressed like a ship.”

“I would have loved to see that costume. Speaking of ships, did you see your James there?”

“I did not see him, although I'll admit I didn't look very hard. I didn't want to risk dancing with him.”

“Surely you must have danced with some people? Please tell me you didn't eat chocolates the entire time.”

Q splashed his face, rubbing off the rest of the make up and aforementioned chocolate before responding. “I did dance with a couple men. It was strange to follow for once, but I enjoyed the sensation of being lifted on the turns. I'll admit, the full skirt flying behind me was fun at times.”

“I'm glad I could design it to meet your specifications. Maybe next time, you will let me design you a suit and you can spend the whole night dancing with James instead.”

She got no response save the very dress she designed being thrown in her direction followed by the unmistakable sound of an exhausted engineer faceplanting on his bed.


	2. Bonus art

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For Forger and Mad. I won't do their full costumes because I am not that talented at google searching. But perhaps if you beg one of the artists in our fandom.

[ ](http://imgur.com/jebWJ7Q)

 


End file.
